Amazon Echo Has Arrived

I just learned about this today and wanted to share it. Since we already put together our Holiday Gift Guide 2014, I didn’t want to mess with it and am throwing this up on it’s own.

What is the Amazon Echo? Well it looks like and is a speaker, but to call it a speaker would do it a great injustice. Imagine taking Google Now, Siri or Cortana and building a stand-alone device that provides that functionality and you will have a pretty good idea of what Amazon Echo is. Check sports scores, set alarms, create a shopping list, play a song…You get the idea.

Amazon also has a companion app that allows you to manage the Echo remotely. Being able to interact with your devices at home remotely is always a cool bonus.

It’s always on and connected to the cloud. According to Amazon, it adapts and learns the more you use it and even adds more functionality over time.

So here’s the deal. It’s available, but at this time by invitation only. My guess is there are a couple reasons for this. First, they probably want to get a feel for demand and test the waters before they mass produce it. Second, they are giving Prime members $100 off, which is probably a way to try and get more Prime subscribers. Although I’m not sure why they would need this to convince people since they already offer so much with Prime.

Either way, this does look like a really cool gadget to get for someone special. It’s $199 and $99 with Prime. All you need to do is click the link below and request an invitation.